Bernard FonlonDr Bernard Fonlon was an extraordinary figure who left a large footprint in Cameroonian intellectual, social and political life.

Fonlon-Nichols AwardWebsite of the Literary Award established to honor the memory of BERNARD FONLON, the great Cameroonian teacher, writer, poet, and philosopher, who passionately defended human rights in an often oppressive political atmosphere.

France WatcherPurpose of this advocacy site: To aggregate all available information about French terror, exploitation and manipulation of Africa

Jacob NguniVirtuoso guitarist, writer and humorist. Former lead guitarist of Rocafil, led by Prince Nico Mbarga.

Martin JumbamThe refreshingly, unique, incisive and generally hilarous writings about the foibles of African society and politics by former Cameroon Life Magazine columnist Martin Jumbam.

Nowa OmoiguiProfessor of Medicine and interventional cardiologist, Nowa Omoigui is also one of the foremost experts and scholars on the history of the Nigerian Military and the Nigerian Civil War. This site contains many of his writings and comments on military subjects and history.

Postwatch MagazineA UMI (United Media Incorporated) publication. Specializing in well researched investigative reports, it focuses on the Cameroonian scene, particular issues of interest to the former British Southern Cameroons.

Victor Mbarika ICT WeblogVictor Wacham Agwe Mbarika is one of Africa's foremost experts on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Dr. Mbarika's research interests are in the areas of information infrastructure diffusion in developing countries and multimedia learning.

TunduziA West African in Arusha at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda on the angst, contradictions and rewards of that process.

Francis NyamnjohProlific writer, social and political commentator, he was a professor at University of Buea and University of Botswana. Currently he is Head of Publications and Dissemination at CODESRIA in Dakar, Senegal. His writings are socially relevant and engaging even to the non specialist.

Ilongo Sphere: Writer and PoetNovelist and poet Ilongo Fritz Ngalle, long concealed his artist's wings behind the firm exterior of a University administrator and guidance counsellor. No longer. Enjoy his unique poems and glimpses of upcoming novels and short stories.

BakweriramaSpotlight on the Bakweri Society and Culture. The Bakweri are an indigenous African nation.

Fonlon-Nichols AwardWebsite of the Literary Award established to honor the memory of BERNARD FONLON, the great Cameroonian teacher, writer, poet, and philosopher, who passionately defended human rights in an often oppressive political atmosphere.

Bernard FonlonDr Bernard Fonlon was an extraordinary figure who left a large footprint in Cameroonian intellectual, social and political life.

AFRICAphonieAFRICAphonie is a Pan African Association which operates on the premise that AFRICA can only be what AFRICANS and their friends want AFRICA to be.

Posts from January 2012

January 21, 2012

The official song of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea with Patience Dabany (Gabon) feat Magic System (Ivory Coast), X-Maleya (Cameroon) and much more... It celebrates the Africa and invites Africans to the two host nations to enjoy football. All the best to the teams that will be competing and their fans who should be dancing to this rythmic tune! Follow match analysis and other interesting bits on Gef's Football Club

January 04, 2012

*Article updated from the original to include quotes from the chief of Deido and Kah Walla.

There have been clashes between motor-bike taxi riders and residents of Deido neighbourhood for five days leaving at least two people dead in Douala, Cameroon's largest city, media reports said.

This spate of violence erupted on New Year's Eve when Deido residents accused motor-bike taxi riders (known as Benskinneur) of stabbing a Deido native to death. The residents retaliated by attacking benskinneurs and setting their motorcycles on fire.

The violence escalated on Tuesday 3 January, as shown in the report below by Douala-based Equinoxe Television channel, after a woman's home was burnt down in Deido on Monday night. Some Deido residents blamed the benskinneurs for the action leading to further clashes on Tuesday and Wednesday morning.

ETHNIC ISSUES

While local media have suggested that the situation is increasingly developing into a tribal conflict between mainly ethnic Bamileke benskinneurs and largely ethnic Duala (Sawa) Deido youth groups, Sawa community leaders refuted such allegations on Equinoxe TV on Wednesday.

"Why do you want to suggest that there is a problem between Deidos (Dualas) and Bamileke or benskinneurs?" Essaka Ekwalla the paramount chief of the Deido asked on Equinoxe TV news on Wednesday night. "Are all benskinneur in Douala Bamileke?" he asked. "Do you know that there are natives of Deido who lost property because they are also benskinneurs?"

Government officials and politicians have not directly said the violence is turning to an ethnic issue but they have called for calm and insisted on unity.

"The head of state has repeatedly said that we have only one ethnicity which is the Cameroon nation," Issa Tchiroma, the Minister of Communication said on TV. "Douala has to remain that melting pot that it has always been where all ethnic groups be they Bakoko, Bassa, Bamileke, Duala, Hausa, live in harmony," he said.

A statement by the Provincial Bureau of the country's leading opposition party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF), touched on the issue.

"It should be noted that Douala is a cosmopolitan city. No one has the right to create a state of lawlessness in any of its neighbourhoods or areas. Douala is the common property of all who live there," said the statement signed by Gervais Nintcheu, SDF district chairman for the Littoral Region.

January 03, 2012

Two days without the public transport in Dakar, the capital of Senegal.

Senegalese transport workers decided to go on strike on Monday (2 Jan) and Tuesday (3 Jan) to protest against high fuel prices, the high cost of car insurance and harassment by the police.

Not a single yellow cab could be seen on the streets as I set out for work. No commuter buses. But, I could see many people trekking.

Those taxi and bus drivers hoot endlessly, stop without warning, take bends without indicating, drop off passengers without stopping, overtake on the wrong strike, refuse to give way, etc but Dakar doesn't look quite the same without the rickety "Ndiaga Ndiaye" and "Car Rapide" commuter buses.

They not only ferry most of its inhabitants, especially those who flood into the city from the impoverished suburbs of Pikine and Rufisque, they give the city its local colour.

In their absence though, Dakar's roads are now under the control of personal cars. Their owners have been going about their normal business probably relieved to drive without stress for a few days.

Now, that's the difference with what I have observed in Cameroon in similar circumstances.

Here in Senegal, the unions (as far as I've seen) are solely concerned about their members respecting the industrial action. That's why any taxi or bus seen transporting people is stopped and the passengers asked to disembark. They have nothing to do with the personal vehicles.

In Cameroon, when taxi drivers or any other group of transporters decides to go on strike to protest a fuel price hike or other related issue, the unions or their members feel they must attack personal cars, whose owners are not involved in their action.

January 01, 2012

An American actress, Sheryl Lee Ralph, has praised an initiative to help African-Americans reconnect with their ancestry by visiting the countries, such as Cameroon, where their forefathers originally came from.

Sheryl Lee Ralph and her husband Senator Vincent Hughes are among a group of 90 people visiting Cameroon as part of an ancestry reconnection programme where African-Americans whose origins have been traced to that country via DNA tests. They are invited back to Cameroon in a tour hosted by ARK Jammers, Inc., according to AtlasFamily.org.

"...that I can sit here in this New Year and say I am a Cameroonian-American is a wonderful thing," Sheryl Lee Ralph, said on Cameroon national television (CRTV).